The Fine Line
by Elvenprincess558
Summary: Because I was left with more questions than answers... Picks up where the finale left off. The gang have overthrown Fire Lord Ozai... which now begs the question 'What next' Full Summary inside. Chapters 2-4updated and chapter 5 added.
1. Chapter 1

**Quick Authors note! I'll post this in chapter 5 as well. So I had honestly forgotten about this story, which, shame on me. Just got a new follower and got a notification about it, and then it just made me feel terrible. So I'm going to keep this up until the weekend or so and then delete it before I move it over to my new account and re-post it there. I know there are some people still finding this story (which is crazy! This is from 3 years ago now!) but I feel like I owe it to you and to myself to actually get this finished. I've been on a HUGE Avatar kick lately, and I feel like this will help it not to get too out of hand. Anyway, thanks for reading, and sort of putting up with me. Look for this to be posted again in about a week under my new penname: Nessarose21.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar:The Last Air Bender. I make no profit from writing/posting this. Characters and the world of Avatar belong to Nickelodeon, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Plot is my own.**

**Summary: Because I was left with more questions than answers... and not being a big fan of Kataang, this popped into my head one day...Picks up where the finale left off. The gang have overthrown Fire Lord Ozai... which now begs the question 'What next?' Follow everyone as they journey to find new adventures and danger. Zuko is determined to find and rescue his mother, but knows he won't be able to do it alone, will he get the support he needs or will he be on the outs with the gang once more. Aang has his own idea with what to do in this post war world, but so does everyone else. **

**A/N: This will be an eventual Zutara story. This will also be a bit of a slow boil, so stay patient with me, I'm going to try to stay as true to charachters as I can here. Also, this is the first thing I've written in about 5 years, so I'm pretty rusty, but I'm hoping it will work itself out. I have no beta as of yet, so any gramatical and spelling errors are all mine, and please point them out, I've re-read this mumerous times, but its always harder to find your own mistakes. Constructive criticisim is always welcome, flaming is not. If you don't like it... please don't read it. Seriously.**

**Ok, and since I've kept you all waiting quite long enough... **

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Zuko walked the long path the the Capital City Prison alone. He had important business to attend to there. Upon his arrival the guards were rushing around in a frenzy making sure their newest Fire Lord was accommodated. Trays of food and drink were presented to him, but he merely waved them away.

He turned to the warden with a grim expression. "I'm here to see my father."

"Of course Sir!" the burly man said with a nod, snapping his fingers. Quickly a boy who looked to be no older that Zuko himself stepped forward and bowed low to the two men. "My Lord, this is Ako." The warden said before turning to the young man. "Ako, please escort the Fire Lord to cell 22-78-A."

Ako nodded and bowed once again to Zuko, Zuko inclined his head and the boy took off into the deep recesses of the prison, leaving the Fire Lord to hurry after him.

When they arrived at the passageway where the previous Fire Lord was now housed Ako stopped and clasped his hands behind his back. "I'll wait here to escort you back when you are finished Lord Zuko."

Zuko nodded and leisurely walked the rest of the way to his fathers cell alone.

Throwing open the door he stepped inside and looked down at his father who was hunched over on the ground, his completion sallow and his hair hanging limp around his face. Zuko could feel a sneer forming on his lips.

"I should count myself lucky... the new Fire Lord has graces me with his presence in my lonely prison cell." Ozai spoke in a hushed, annoyed tone.

"You should count yourself lucky that the Avatar spared your life. "Zuko said harshly, to which his fathers only reply was a short noncommittal chuckle. Zuko ignored him and continued on. "Banishing me was the best thing you could have done for my life. It put me on the right path. Perhaps your time in here could do the same for you."

"Why are you really here?"

"Because you're going to tell me something," Zuko said before kneeling down to look his father in the eye, "Where... is … my mother?" He demanded.

Ozai finally looked up at his son, a cold glint in his eyes. "You want to know where your mother is?" He asked slowly, when Zuko's stare didn't flicker he let out a cold, hard laugh. "I had her killed." he said darkly.

"Liar!" Zuko shouted, shooting a blast of heat through the bars. "I remember the way things used to be," he said harshly, "I remember how happy we had once been, you loved her too much to do that."

Ozai laughed again. "Relying on your deluded childhood memories now? Surely what you think you can remember is what you've been telling yourself over and over for so long that you think it is now the truth."

Zuko narrowed his eyes. "I will get the truth from you father." he said darkly.

Ozai was up and gripping the bars in a flash. "If you don't believe the truth I've already told you, than you are still the fool I've always known you to be. "He laughed. "Whatever torture tactics you have planned... do your worst, because _nothing_ can feel as terrible as having such power as I had stripped away from me. Death would be welcome."

Zuko turned his back on his father and took a deep breath. "Death would be the easy way out wouldn't it? No, I'll be sure that doesn't happen." he growled, a smirk forming on his lips. Turning back around he locked eyes with his father. "I shall see you again soon." He sent a quick blast of fire forward and heated the bars. He laughed quietly as his father yelped and jumped away from them, blowing on his hands where nasty blisters were now forming.

Turning, Zuko strode from the cell, closed the heavy metal door and walked to where Ako stood waiting for him. "Let's leave." he said with out stopping, leaving the young guard to quickly get in front of him to lead him out of the maze-like prison.

Upon arriving back at the warden's quarters Zuko bowed slightly to the man. "I must take my leave no, but I will be writing soon with orders on what to do with my father."

The warden bowed low and nodded, "Of course, it will be our honor to do as you ask."

Zuko nodded grimly and left the prison to start the long walk back into town and the palace.

On his walk back he contemplated what to do. He had just been crowned the newest Fire Lord and vowed to bring peace back to a world that had been scarred by a way lasting 100 years. If he left his post, even to just look for his mother he had no doubts that riots would break out and that some who were opposed to the war ending would try to put an usurper on the throne and restart the war, and all of their struggles would have been for naught.

He didn't trust any of his advisers half as far as he could throw them, and knew that there were probably silent, sympathetic supporters of his father and sister out there still. How he wished his Uncle would have taken the throne instead of opening up his tea shop again. Then, at least he could be free to search for his mother.

At least he had some time to figure out what he should do. He knew his father would be difficult to break, but he knew it could be done. If only he could ask Aang to rule in his stead for a while, but he knew the Avatar would have a lot on his plate in the coming months. Maybe his Uncle could be convinved eventually. After all he has been a respected general of the Fire Nation, he still commanded repsect and if things got ugly he would have the Order of the White Lotus and the Avatar behind him.

Zuko sighed heavily, these were problems to worry about another day.

Arriving back in town he was greeted by a cacophony of noise. People were out in the streets everywhere. They were celebrating in numerous ways – dancing, singing, hugging one another, eating and drinking. The mood in the Fire Nation this evening was joyous. He had been crowned that morning and had no doubts that the celebrations would last for several weeks.

Reaching up he untied his hair and pocketed his insignia crown. Running a hand through his hair to rough it up be passed quickly through the streets going mostly unnoticed. He stopped to chat briefly with the few that did recognize him though. He was even stopped by a young girl who couldn't have been more that four that gave him a bouquet of fire-posies.

The sun was starting to set by the time he stepped through the palace courtyard gates. Servant were rushing everywhere doing the last minute set up for the coronation banquet that would be taking place within the hours. Passing through quickly, Zuko was in the palace in moments and calling for a vase for the posies, which he left in the receiving hall before retreating to his room to get ready.

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**Please feel free to let me know what you all think, and you know... if i made some horrid grammar mistakes :D Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar:The Last Air Bender. I make no profit from writing/posting this. Characters and the world of Avatar belong to Nickelodeon, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Plot is my own.**

**Thank you so much for the reviews and favorites. They're always greatly appreciated! I've just rewritten this chapter, a lot of it has stayed the same, mostly it was a few small additions and grammar/spelling mistakes I noticed. I also added more onto the end of it, I felt like it had ended at a strange place, so I drew it out a bit more and ended it a bit better, at least I hope so.**

**Enjoy!**

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Over in the guest wing of the palace Katara, Toph and Suki were busy getting ready and were in a fairly giddy mood.

"I can't believe it!" Katara began while sweeping her hair up into an elegant bun. "We're guests of honor of the Fire Nation, who would have thought that a year ago we'd all be here today, getting ready for something this big?" she asked with a smile as she began setting pins in her hair.

Suki sent her a smile as she painted her face in the traditional Kyoshi Warrior paint. "I didn't that's for sure, I still can't believe it."

Toph, to her credit, was standing patiently behind them as two women helped her into her elaborate gown. "I knew." she said quickly, and at hearing the two other girls laughter continued on. "What? Sweetness, you mean I never told you that I can see the future?" she asked, waving her fingers at them.

"Toph..." Katara started before the door was flung open and Sokka rushed into the room, closely followed by Aang.

"I Just want you to know that you girls are taking _forever_!" Sokka exclaimed, flopping down onto the large bed situated in the center of the room. "I'm starving! And Zuko had the nerve to say that we had to wait for you!"

"Sokka... I'm sure he's waiting for Mai, and probably Ty Lee." Suki sighed, trying to calm her boyfriend down, while still painting perfect lines on her face.

"Not anymore!" came the sing-song voice from the hall and they all turned to look and see Ty Lee cartwheel by, followed by a calm looking Zuko and Mai.

Sokka turned back to the girls, his face looking exasperated, his hands flailing. "See?...See?" he said, launching himself up from the bed and now pointing to the hall where the other three were waiting.

"I want no part of the blame here." Toph said with a smirk as she pointed to the women who were finishing her hair and placing a headpiece on top of her head.

"Fine, fine, "Sokka sighed, "Katara?... Suki?"

"Just one second," they chimed together. Suki was meticulously painting the black lines on her face and Katara was placing a few more pearls into her up-do.

"Aang! Back me up here!" Sokka said turning towards the Avatar who quickly and guiltily stepped away from Momo.

"Ahhh... what Sokka?" he asked, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his head.

Sokka ran a hand over his face. "Never mind." He amended with a sigh, taking in Momo, who now had a pink bow perched on his head and one tied around his tail. The Lemur quickly attacked the one on his head with an angry yowl.

"Alright, alright, lets go!" Suki said, grabbing Sokka's arm and dragging him out to the hall.

Aang turned to offer Katara his arm and found himself blushing at how incredible she looked. "Katara..."

"Hey Twinkle Toes!" Toph spoke up, interrupting whatever he was going to say. "Think you can handle escorting two lovely ladies tonight?"

Katara and Aang both looked at the Earthbender with tender smiles. "Of course!" Aang said brightly, walking over and taking her arm while Katara took his other side. "You both look great!"

"I know, its so easy to forget how well we clean up after living it rough for so long." Toph teased.

Momo, who had perched himself on Katara's further shoulder from Aang chirped at her, sounding indignant.

"Of course you always look perfect Momo." Katara said, patting the lemur on his now bow-free head.

Sokka snorted and Momo launched himself atthe boy's head, causing Sokka to go flailing down the hall and the rest of the the gang to rush after them.

"Momo! No!" Aang called, dragging Toph with him.

"That lemur is so cute!" Ty Lee gushed to Mai, who merely rolled her eyes as she followed her boyfriend, who was trying to grab Sokka before he damaged anything.

Ty Lee sighed and launched herself over the group with a quick flip, landed near the still flailing Sokka and picked up the rampaging lemur with ease. "You're so cute." she murmured, tucking Momo in her left arm and tickling his belly with her other hand. "Yes you are!" she said in a baby voice. Momo's eyes grew wide as he tried to scramble out of her grasp.

"I'll take him. "Aang said as they came to the palace doors to the courtyard. Ty lee frowned by surrendered the squirming lemur over to the Avatar as they stepped out to the banquet area.

"We'll be sitting at the table to the left." Zuko said gesturing to one of only two empty tables left. Sokka took off, his grip tight on Suki's arm as he rushed toward the food. "Seats aren't assigned." Zuko called after them as everyone laughed at his antics.

Everyone settled themselves down around the table and sat in silence for a few moments, everyone taking in their surroundings. As the gong sounded for dinner, they quickly piled their plates high with food and began to eat, conversation flowing easily among them all.

After the eating, dancing started and Toph immediately dragged Aang out to the dance floor. "Come one Twinkle Toes, lets see your moves."

Mai was asked to dance by a rather handsome boy from the Fire nation and Ty Lee ran off to find someone to dance with, which only took moments. After much persuasion Suki finally got Sokka out to dance, leaving Katara and Zuko alone at the table.

"So... ahhh, are you enjoying yourself?" Zuko asked slowly.

Katara nodded and then realized that he wasn't looking and muttered "Yes"

"Would you, uhm, would you like to dance?" he asked, turning to her, a nervous blush on his cheeks.

"Sure" Katara said standing and holding out her hand for Zuko to take.

Out on the floor Zuko drew her body in towards his and started leading her in the traditional dance. Clearing his throat he looked down into her clear sapphire blue eyes. "You look beautiful tonight Katara."

Blushing, the younger girl averted her eyes. "Ah, thanks, so do you... handsome! I mean you look handsome." She stuttered.

Zuko nodded. "So where will you all go after all of this?" he asked, waving his hand around to indicate the festivities.

"I'm not sure," she said with a small shrug, "we haven't discussed it. Probably to where ever needs the most help."

"Won't you go back home to your tribe?"

Katara frowned. "Of course I'll go back, I'm just not sure that's where I'm supposed to be anymore." she said slowly, "Everything is changing, and as much as that's my home, and my family, and my people... I want to help."

Zuko nodded. "Yeah, I understand. You're lucky to be able to do that. To just go where you're needed. I wish I could go with all of you, maybe eventually I'll be able to, but I just have so much to take care of here. There's been so much pain, so much mistrust; it's going to be along year for me."

Katara gave him a small smile. "You're gonna be an awesome Fire Lord though... and you'll have Mai." she said brightly.

Zuko smiled. "Yeah, Mai." he said wistfully.

"And you could always write us, and I'm sure we'll stop in to visit you every so often when we're in the area."

Zuko laughed. "Right, I'm sure you'll be in the area often.

Katara shrugged as the song ended. She looked around quickly to see if Aang was free, but Toph still had her arms around him, which caused a frown to mar Katara's face. Zuko, on the other hand was looking for where Mai had wandered off to with that boy. The music started up again and the two glanced at each other and began dancing again.

"Come on Sokka, try no to look so miserable." Suki said with a quick smile.

"I hate dancing," Sokka grumbled, staring intensely at his feet, "I'm terrible at it." he said with a heavy sigh.

"No! No you're great Sokka... Ow- alright, never mind." she amended with a grimace as her toes were trampled on once more.

A few feet away Toph and Aang were dancing. Toph's grip was tight on the Avatar, so she wouldn't loose him in the crowd.

"There's so many people here!" the young Earthbender exclaimed.

"I know! It's incredible." Aang concurred, "Maybe the nations will be more open to peace with the Fire Nation than I thought."

Toph snorted. "Or, they just know a good party when they see one. I know that's why I'm here. Alright... I heard about this one, it sounds and feels like a good one though." She said poking fun at her lack of sight.

Aang laughed. "Everyone seems pretty happy, so I guess it's good, but the celebration will last all week, so we'll wait until then to decide."

Toph nodded. "Good idea Twinkle toes. This is going to be such a long week. Parties every evening, each one a tribute to a different nation, plays and a musical near the end of the week and a masquerade on the last day. I'm going to be pooped come next Friday."

"Tell me about it, and I promised Zuko I'd sit in on a few meetings with him."

"I don't envy you that job." Toph laughed.

Ty Lee had danced her way through several cute guys. The current one though topped the list, but his laugh -ugh- she had never heard such and awful one, it was a loud guffaw that sounded more like a donkey-lion than a human. Her eyes drifted across the courtyard, resisting the urge to roll her eye as she laughed again when she saw Mai moving into a dark corner with that _hot_ boy that had asked her to dance earlier.

"Gotta go!" she chirped, cutting off Bai, Bo... whatever his name was, mid rant. Twirling away from him and ignoring his shocked face she moved towards the place where she last saw Mai as quickly as her acrobatic moves could carry her.

Ty Lee slowed down when she heard a stifled giggle. '_Since when does Mai giggle?_' With a shrug she continued on, shocked at the sight that greeted her. Mai was up against the wall, her hands gripping the guy tightly, their mouths locked in a heated battle. While making out wasn't a new idea to the acrobat, it still wasn't something she enjoyed witnessing much, and certainly not something she thought mopey-lovesick-pining-for-Zuko-Mai would be doing with someone who was most definitely _NOT_ Zuko.

In a flash and with a few well placed jabs the boy was on the ground and Mai was staring into Ty Lee's disapproving eyes.

The two girls stared at each other for several long minutes as the boy rolled around groaning.

"What the hell?" he asked sharply, finally able to stand.

"Don't ask questions, just leave." Ty Lee snapped.

He went to argue but Mai sighed. "You should probably leave." After he had ambled away she turned to her normally bubbly friend. "What are you doing?" She asked with a glare.

"Maybe I missed a lot while I was busy trying to become a Kyoshi Warrior, but I'm pretty sure you were still madly in love with Zuko. You risked your life to save him."

Mai nodded. "We got back together before the coronation this morning, but I don't know, I think I'm in love with the idea of Zuko, the way he was before all of this. He was so passionate, so focused on getting his honor back, and now he has all of that... he's a good guy now."

"So are we," Ty Lee defended, "You've liked Zuko for ages! Now you're both back together after so much and you just turn around and trade him for an admittedly good looking, newer model?"

Mai shrugged. "I'm scared Ty Lee, I never thought when we'd be together again he would be the Fire Lord... I don't want the responsibilities of being his wife."

Ty Lee rolled her eyes. "You're both young, I'm sure the Sages aren't going to rush anything. I get that you're scared, nervous, and unsure and all of that stuff, but that's really no reason to sneak away with someone else. You should talk to him about all of this being afraid stuff."

Mai nodded. "I know."

"Good! Now, you should probably go dance with him and you and I can talk about how stupid you are in the morning!"

"Gee thanks." Mai sighed, moving back to the dance floor as Ty Lee beamed after her.

Zuko and Katara had retired to their table to grab a drink. Katara was lounging back against the table, her legs crossed at the ankles as she watched everyone dance.

"So when did you learn how to dance?" She asked, looking over at Zuko as he popped a dessert into his mouth.

He grinned and held up his hand for a moment. He swallowed thickly and then looked at her. "A long time ago." he said quietly. "It has been banned for a long time, since before I was born, but my mother loved to dance. On afternoons when my father was locked away in the Hall with the Sages, or his generals, my mother and I would spend our time in the gardens, and sometimes music from the streets would filter in by the wind, and she would dance. I used to watch her in awe, she always looked so happy when she danced, and then she decided it was time to teach me." Zuko laughed. "I was a terrible student at many things in life, but dancing wasn't one of them." He gave a sad thoughtful smile and turned back to watch the dancers.

Katara watched him for a few moments and then turned to fiddle with the sleeve of her dress, not knowing what she could say to him.

"I talked to my father today." he said suddenly, and Katara looked up and met his gaze. "He knows where she is." Katara felt her intake of breath and she leaned closer to him, wanting to hear what had happened. "He refuses to tell me right now, but I will find out, I will find her again."

Katara grinned at him. "I am sure you will, I am glad though, at least, that he does know where she is, it gives me hope."

Zuko shook his head, baffled. "Hope for what?"

"For you, of course!" she said, leaning back from him. "The world is changing Zuko, and if anyone deserves to have what they want, it is you."

"You give me too much credit Katara." he said with a shake of his head. "but thank you."

She nodded and watched Mai's slow approach to them, and she shifted even farther away from the Fire Lord. Katara grinned as she took her in, her eyes solely focused on Zuko, she wondered what it would be like to be that in love, to be so in love that you noticed no one else but that one other person.

She looked to Aang for a moment and grinned as he, Toph, Sokka and Suki were all dancing comically in a circle, imitating moves from that night in the cave when they had hosted that party. Katara barely noticed the hushed conversation happening next to her, but watched as Zuko stood and led Mai out to dance. Sometimes she felt a bit jealous of the two of them, but she knew that was completely foolish, one day she would have something like that too.

Katara sat alone at the table for a while, sipping on tea and watching everyone dancing. Momo approached her slowly, trying to avoid her to get at the sweets on the table. She spun around and looked at him and let out a laugh as he stared up at her wide eyed, cheeks stuffed with food.

"What do you say you and I go inside Momo?" she asked, holding out her arm for the lemur, and cautiously, he ambled over to her and up her arm.

She stood quickly from the table and made her way back into the palace, ready to be out of her beautiful dress and sleep for as long as she could.

Resting in bed, Momo curled up beside her, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, certain that things could only get better from here.

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**Hope you liked it a bit better this time around, and some of the sentences made a bit more sense, I accept any and all constructive criticism, so let me know your thoughts, if you hate reviewing, thats ok, just adding this to a favorite/alert lets me know you liked it! I will be updating the next chapters shortly!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar:The Last Air Bender. I make no profit from writing/posting this. Characters and the world of Avatar belong to Nickelodeon, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Plot is my own.**

**Thank you so much for the reviews and favorites. They're always greatly appreciated! I've looked over this one, not to much done in the way of rewrites, its just a nice little chapter with nothing really exciting going on, so I left it as is.**

**Enjoy!**

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Three weeks later found them all back in Ba Sing Se for the reopening of the Jasmine Dragon the next day. For now though it was just them. Iroh had made the tea and was now sitting down playing his Tsungi horn and Zuko was serving up the tea. He had just given Katara a cup when Sokka spoke up, a paintbrush in his hand.

"Zuko, stop moving! I'm trying to capture the moment! I wanted to do a painting so we always remember the good times together."

"That's very thoughtful of you, Sokka." Katara said, moving to view the painting over her brothers shoulder, she frowned. "Wait! Why did you give me Momo's ears?"

Sokka looked down at his painting. "Those are your hair loopies!" he exclaimed as everyone started to gather around the table he was at.

"At least you don't look like a Boar-q-pine!" Zuko scoffed. "My hair is _not_ that spiky!"

"I look like a man." Mai intoned.

"And why did you paint me fire bending?" Suki asked harshly.

"I thought it would look more exciting that way," Sokka defended as Momo hopped up onto the table. He made a short noise and Sokka turned to him, "Oh, you think you can do a better job Momo?" he asked the Lemur.

Iroh quickly stepped in, "Hey, my belly is not that big anymore. I really trimmed down." he said patting his stomach.

"Well I think you all look perfect!" Toph exclaimed happily, causing everyone to laugh and brighten the mood.

Aang however merely smiled and stepped outside to pet Appa and watch the sunset, and everyone watched as Katara followed him out.

"About time." Suki said quietly, Mai nodded in agreement and they both shared a quick laugh.

"About time for what?" Sokka asked, looking between the two girls, realization slowly dawning on him when Toph started to make kissy faces in his direction. "Oh no! No, no, no, no, no... that's my little sister!" He said standing and drawing his boomerang.

"Leave them alone Sokka, its only Aang, you like Aang." Suki said calmly, trying to make him see reason.

"Yeah! When his hands aren't all over my sister!"

Zuko and Toph laughed and he rounded on them. "You wouldn't like it either if you were me!"

"I'm an only child," Toph said with a shrug.

"And I don't even _like_ my sister." Zuko said with a frown.

Sokka sighed. "I hate you all." he said dramatically, falling back into a chair.

Iroh sighed heavily. "Hate leads to anger, anger leads to hate," he paused with a frown, "No, that's not it. Forget I said anything."

"What? Uncle, I don't think I've ever heard you not finish a proverb."

Iroh shrugged, "Who wants more tea?"

It was dark out by the time Katara and Aang decided to wander back inside, guilty looks and a slight blush on both of their faces.

"So what now?" Suki asked, once everyone was settled down again.

"I'd like to go help dad with the tribes, get them secure again." Sokka said, glancing at Suki who gave him an encouraging nod and a smile.

"I think we should work on communicating more with the Northern Water Tribe. Our two tribes used to get together once a year to celebrate the new moon, I think that should be done again, and maybe an ambassador to each pole so we can stay updated on what each is doing." Katara said.

"That's a great idea!" Aang exclaimed, "What if there was an ambassador sent to every nation. It would help unite everyone, let them experience other cultures."

Iroh nodded, "An excellent idea young Avatar. I believe the Order of the White Lotus would be willing to help until suitable candidates can be found."

"Alright! So we'll go to the south pole first?" Aang asked everyone.

"I don't know." Toph said, "I mean I love you guys, but I'm not sure I could handle the boots and complete blindness. So if I do decide to go, I don't want to be there for _too_ long."

Aang nodded. "Of course. I'd like to start rebuilding the air temples. Even if I am the only Air bender, they could be used for people maybe wanting to just start over. A clean slate, at least for now, I'm sure we'll be able to find some place better suited for that eventually, because it _is _ an air temple after all, not the easiest place to get to."

Zuko made a noise of agreement. "That's a pretty good idea actually. Maybe we could build a new city... eventually." he said at the odd looks he was getting. "Hear me out. It could just be a big place for everyone, no nation to define it, and... and that's all I've got." he finished lamely.

"Nice paraphrasing." Sokka grumbled, Zuko chucked a cup of tea at him and huffed.

"I think we should worry about that later." Iroh said, "for now I think we should focus on the the present and healing the nations from this tumultuous time."

Everyone quietly agreed and went back to their tea and their thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar:The Last Air Bender. I make no profit from writing/posting this. Characters and the world of Avatar belong to Nickelodeon, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Plot is my own.**

**Enjoy!**

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By weeks end everyone was packed and loading up Appa for the trip back to the Fire Nation from Ba Sing Se.

"Promise to keep me updated on everything." Iroh said as he watched Zuko help Toph then Mai up onto the large saddle.

"We will!" Katara said, smiling down at him. "And let us know all of the exciting happenings we'll miss here."

Iroh smiled at the young girl as Zuko walked up to him to say goodbye. "And you Zuko, let me know your fathers progress."

The young Fire Lord nodded before embracing his Uncle, "I will Uncle, I'll visit again as soon as I can." he said before hopping up onto the bison and settling down between Mai and Katara.

The older man smiled at all of them and bowed as they took off. He retreated back into his tea shop after they had disappeared into the distance and locked up. Sitting down to relax and enjoy a cup a jasmine tea he took out his white lotus Pai Sho piece and began rolling it across the table with his index finger.

In the morning he would contact the other White Lotus members and invite them over the discuss things. The world would be changing again and for the better, _but what a long process it will have to be_, he thought heavily. Damn his grandfather Sozin. His idea had been a good one, but brought about so horribly. It was the power that ruined him, he had it, but wanted and needed more of it. What a fool.

And now his beloved nephew, grandson of the two men that had started the war and fought against each other would be the one to help fix the world. The thought brought a smile to the old man's lips.

Aang hopped off Appa when they landed in the palace courtyard and stretched. "Man, what a trip!" he said, turning to watch as everyone tumbled off of the sky bison.

"Oh yeah, I love spending weeks flying on Appa." Sokka grumbled, rubbing his backside and stepping out of the way as Toph face planted on the dirt and dug her hands in, mumbling nothing discernible.

"Then you can walk to the South Pole." Katara said giving him a slight shove as she moved past him.

"You're all welcome to stay as long as you like before you leave again." Zuko mumbled around a barely suppressed yawn.

Everyone nodded and trudged into the palace, leaving Mai and Zuko alone.

"Are you coming in?" he asked, reaching his hand out towards her.

She shook her head, "No, I want to go home and sleep in my own bed tonight, besides," she said with a shrug. "I don't think I can handle much more of your friends."

Zuko laughed, "Come on Mai, they aren't that bad, and we've barely spent any time together since the Coronation." he pleaded.

"I'll be over tomorrow" she said curtly, ignoring the hurt look on his face and turning to walk toward her home.

The palace was quiet as he retreated to his room and collapsed onto the large bed. Pulling a pillow over his face he took a deep breath and screamed into it before rolling onto his side and drifting into a troubled sleep.

_He was seated at the throne, attending to the daily trials of the kingdom when the fire that surrounded him and the people in the receiving hall vanished slowly. He stood up quickly, peering out into the now empty and darkening room. Before he could step off of the dais everything was black as pitch and he couldn't even see the hand he was now frantically waving in front of his face._

"_Who's there?" he called sharply, attempting to bend a flame to life in his palm to light the area around him, "Show yourself!" he demanded when the flame flicked faintly and then faded out._

_A short laugh stopped him cold. "Oh Zuzu, look at you, all dressed up and trying to play at being the Fire Lord. A right you **certainly** don't deserve!" the cold voice of his sister echoed sharply about the Hall._

_The darkness retreated and he found his face inches from his sisters, a cruel smile on her lips._

_He backed quickly away from her as she laughed again, he bit out a curse as she stumbled over the throne._

"_Aww, whats the matter brother? Not afraid of little old me are you?" she asked in a childlike voice, stalking toward him._

"_How did you get in? What are you even doing here?"_

"_Well obviously I just walked in. The guards seemed quite pleased to see me... as for what I'm doing here... Well, I've come to kill you." she said darkly. A blue flame appearing around her hand briefly, before it was hurled at him._

Zuko sat straight up in bed, his breathing heavy, his body damp and cool with sweat. He looked around his room warily and finding nothing settled himself back into bed, but sleep never came again for him that night.

He rose from his bed as the faint rays of dawn started to filter through his window, shrugging on a black robe he walked to the dining hall, surprised to see Aang already awake and eating breakfast.

"Good morning Zuko!... Woah, what happened to you?" the Avatar asked, taking in his friend's disheveled appearance.

"I didn't get much sleep," he answered, flopping into a chair and pouring himself a cup of tea.

Aang said nothing as he studied the person in front of him. If anyone needed his help, it was probably Zuko, and as much as his heart wanted him to stay and help, the Avatar in him was telling him he needed to visit with the other nations.

"Look, Zuko, I know I've set up a schedule for when I'm visiting you here, but if you need help with anything pressing, send a letter and we'll get here as soon as we can."

Zuko nodded but remained silent, it was a few moments later when Katara a Toph came in and sat down to breakfast.

"Morning!" Katara chimed cheerfully, smiling as she sat down.

Zuko groaned and stood from the table, quickly leaving the room.

"What's his problem?" Toph asked, beginning to fill her plate.

Aang shrugged. "He said he didn't get much sleep."

"Whatever." The blind girl said with a shrug, going back to her breakfast.

"So when are we leaving?" Katara asked Aang as she lifted a cup of tea to her lips.

"In a few days, Appa needs to rest for a bit, then we can head to the South Pole. Toph, I know you don't want to stay for very long so when Suki goes back to Kyoshi Island you can go as well."

Toph smiled, "Sounds great to me. I'll head back to Ba Sing Se, Iroh said I could help out in his shop!"

Katara and Aang exchanged a quick, worried glance before looking back at Toph.

"That's great Toph." The Water bender said.

"It is though Katara." Aang interrupted. "That way she and Iroh can let us know when Kuei gets back, he'll need to reestablish himself on the throne. I'll have to come back and help him."

Katara sighed. "I just can't wait until I can settle down and stop moving around all the time."

Aang nodded, "Yeah, and then you and I can have our pick of places after we restore the Air Temples." He said beaming at her.

Toph choked on her food and dropped her utensil on the floor, where she quickly disappeared, Katara suspected it was only to hide her laughter.

The young Water bender took a few moments to look around the dining hall, she took in the opulent gold statues and tapestries on the wall, her eyes lighted on a remaining picture of the royal family that was still hanging behind the head of the table before finally meeting Aang's eyes once more, his expression slowly falling.

"Yeah, about that..." she started slowly, Aang started frowning and Katara pushed on. "We've been through a lot Aang, I don't know if I can think that far into the future right now. I have bigger worries than where I'm going to live after I marry whoever I marry."

"So you don't love me?" Aang asked, stabbing at his breakfast pastry.

"I didn't say that! I just want to go slow here, and make sure this isn't something based on out heightened emotions over the past year." she defended quickly

"Right." Aang said, standing, he paused and looked like he had something more to say, thought better of it and instead quickly left the room.

"Wow Katara." Toph said, finally resurfacing.

"What?" the other girl snapped.

Toph shrugged and stayed quiet a moment and drummed her fingers on the table, "I'm not sure that was the best choice of words... but on the other hand, what he said was pretty stupid too."

Katara sighed. "I know, but was I wrong? We're all so young, and he's the Avatar! Marriage shouldn't be our first concerns."

Toph shook her head. "I'll talk to him as soon as I've finished, see if I can't get him to see sense about this whole thing."

"Thanks Toph." Katara said softly, pushing away her plate. "I'm going to go find Sokka, I can't believe he's not in here yet." she backed out of the room, watching as Toph waved her away and then got back to eating with gusto.

Katara turned around and chose to walk to her left, there was no way she was going looking for her brother, he was more than likely snuggled up with Suki and she would rather not witness that and run the risk of trying to erase a terrible image from her mind.

Her fingers trailed from pillar to pillar as she walked and figured the few days they would be here would be he best opportunity to explore. The last time they had been here the halls had been teeming with people. And while she understood why they were being housed there, she still felt a bit of resentment over the whole thing. All she wanted to do was sit in a room with her friends, eat, drink and unwind. Aang and Zuko thought differently. So there were meetings and councils and meetings about meetings, and it was all terribly boring.

After the coronation celebration, life went back to what seemed to be normal for all of the visiting dignitaries and the household of the palace. Katara, however tried to avoid it as much as possible, Toph managed to sneak out often and would come back with stories from the street celebrations, while the rest of them had spent all day in meetings, they would however, on some days, take their dinner in the courtyard of their wing and they would stay quiet, listening to the sounds of everyone outside of the palace walls celebrating.

She paused for a moment and took in the image of Sozin when it appeared on the wall across from her, suspended between pillars and almost taking up the complete floor to ceiling space. His eyes seemed to follow her as she continued on and she stuck her tongue out at him. After several more minutes and confusing turns she stepped through into a courtyard she had never seen before.

It was fairly large and had a covered walkway that ran the outside circuit of it along the place, she presumed so people could still enjoy the area even in the rain, and then easily access their rooms again, because she spotted several doors that lead into the courtyard as well. There was a beautiful pond near the center and a large tree next to it. Katara slowly stepped down onto the springy grass and moved towards the pond, stepping past a young cherry blossom tree she stopped, her heart in her throat.

Two masked men had Zuko pinned to the ground by his arms and legs and a third had a sword raised over his head, poised to swing it down and decapitate the young Fire Lord.

"Zuko!" she called in a panic and quick as lightning the armed man turned towards her and started to charge.


	5. Chapter 5

******Quick Authors note! I've posted this in chapter 1 as well. So I had honestly forgotten about this story, which, shame on me. Just got a new follower and got a notification about it, and then it just made me feel terrible. So I'm going to keep this up until the weekend or so and then delete it before I move it over to my new account and re-post it there. I know there are some people still finding this story (which is crazy! This is from 3 years ago now!) but I feel like I owe it to you and to myself to actually get this finished. I've been on a HUGE Avatar kick lately, and I feel like this will help it not to get too out of hand. Anyway, thanks for reading, and sort of putting up with me. Look for this to be posted again in about a week under my new penname: Nessarose21.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar:The Last Air Bender. I make no profit from writing/posting this. Characters and the world of Avatar belong to Nickelodeon, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Plot is my own.**

**Sorry for the long wait everyone, hope you like it, more to come sooner than later, I promise!**

* * *

_Katara slowly stepped down onto the springy grass and moved towards the pond, stepping past a young cherry blossom tree she stopped, her heart in her throat._

_Two masked men had Zuko pinned to the ground by his arms and legs and a third had a sword raised over his head, poised to swing it down and decapitate the young Fire Lord._

"_Zuko!" she called in a panic and quick as lightning the armed man turned towards her and started to charge._

Katara watched with a calculating eye as the man ran at her. He looked overly confident and the thought of bringing him down a peg or two sent a thrill through the water bender and her smile turned feral as she looked at him. He clearly had no idea who he was dealing with, and she didn't blame him, she wasn't dressed in Water tribe regalia, but rather an outfit similar to the one she ran around in when they were hiding out in the Fire Nation.

She took a step back and let her hands fall to her sides as her fingers twitched towards the pond. He raised his arm and let out a loud yell as he brought the sword down. There was a sickening crunch as his blade made contact with the ice wall that had suddenly burst up in front of her and Katara quickly bended water to trap the weapon.

"Interfering wench, you'll pay for this, filth." He spat as he tried to pull the sword free.

"Hmmm." Katara mused as she stepped around to view him. "And I'm sure you'll make sure that happens shortly." She teased. He stepped away from his sword and turned to her, fists raised. "Ah, not so fast." She said with a quick flick of her wrists. The mans eyes flashed with panic as he realized he no longer was in control of his motions as she walked him over to the other two men and the Fire Lord.

"Katara..." Zuko started, before the smaller man pressed his elbow into his windpipe.

"Hey there Zuko." She grinned, turning to the man restricting his airways. "I'm going to have to suggest you stop that."

The man laughed at her. "And I should take orders from you why?" He asked, sneering at her.

She shrugged. "Don't say I didn't warn you." Dropping one arm she reached behind her and swung her arm back towards the man, a stream of water following quickly. It wrapped serpent like around his torso and lifted him upside down off the ground.

Zuko managed to get his arm around the other man's neck and flip him over onto the ground, his knees pinning his arms down. "Who sent you?" he snarled at him.

Katara sighed and dropped her control on the man she was blood bending and pulled more water to enclose him in a little prison. She looked up at the struggling man suspended in air and felt a small stab of guilt and she lowered him to the ground and put him in a similar prison as their leader.

"I asked you a question maggot, and as your Fire Lord I command you to answer me!" Zuko snarled again, placing a hand around his throat for emphasis.

"I- I don't know." He stuttered. And Zuko pressed his hand harder down on him. "On Agni I swear, I don't know who it was. We never ask, and never know unless they feel like telling us, that's why we get hired, people like the anonymity we provide for them. As long as we get 3/4ths of the payment up front, what do we care. We've yet to fail too, so they always come back to us, and even if they don't, we have ways to find them without a name."

Zuko made a low sound in his throat before standing and nodding at Katara, who quickly put him into a water prison before he could move.

"Thanks." He said turning to her, running a hand through his hair and then rubbing at his neck.

She shrugged. "All in a day's work I suppose, if it's not Aang or Sokka I guess it's you that we'll be saving." she tried to tease, but it fell flat.

Zuko nodded absently and stepped away from the three assassins. "I guess you're right, but still, with the blood bending, thank you."

Katara blinked slowly. "I- I didn't even think about what I was doing with that... I just did it." she revealed, seeming more stunned than he did by what had happened.

"Where are the guards?" he asked her, sitting down by the edge of the water and twining his fingers through the grass.

"I'm not sure, I haven't seen any since last night." She said, taking a seat next to him and glancing over her shoulder to watch the three men start to struggle.

"If I find out they had something to do with this..." he started and looked up startled as Toph and Aang burst into the courtyard.

"We heard shouts... and Toph felt something." Aang started explaining looking at the two of them before his gaze drifted behind them and his mouth dropped to form an 'o'. "What happened?" he asked, watching as Toph walked over to sit next to Katara.

"A failed attempt on Zuko's life." Katara said quietly.

"What?" The Avatar exclaimed. His eyes quickly passing between the men and the people sitting by the pond.

"Yeah." Zuko said with a nod. "Good thing Katara stumbled in here or else I'd probably be a goner." he said somberly.

"Wow... Katara, how did you do it?" Aang asked. "You took on all three at once?"

Katara laughed. "No, Zuko took care of one once I got the others off him. And I am a Master Bender, sooo, why do you seem surprised."

"I'm not." Aang said quickly, "just surprised, it seems like it happened really fast."

"It did," she said with a nod. "They aren't benders, and their leader didn't think I was one, so it was pretty easy to overpower them."

"We need to find the guards." Zuko said looking at Aang.

"They're in the dining hall." Toph said. "At least some of them were when we were running out here. I'll go find them." She said and quickly stood and stalked back into the palace.

Aang sat down gingerly next to Katara and grabbed her hand. Covering it with his other one he squeezed it gently. "I'm sorry." he said softly to her. She glanced over at him and nodded with a slight smile. "Can we talk a bit later?" he asked.

"Of course Aang." she said, nudging him with her shoulder.

Zuko watched the two of them with a thoughtful expression, how he wished Mai wouldn't be afraid to be cute in public and want to hold his hand like that. And as if he has summoned her with his thoughts she came bursting into the courtyard, followed closely by Toph and the guards.

"Zuko." she said, walking calmly up to him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Care to explain what happened here?" she asked, waving her hand around to indicate the courtyard.

He shrugged a bit sheepishly. "I was ambushed, Katara came in and saved me, and now here we all are." he said gesturing a bit with his head at the men.

Mai turned and stared down at Katara, who looked up at her, meeting her gaze. There might have been a time when Katara would have looked away, but that time was now long gone. "Thank you." she muttered, finally moving to sit down. Katara beamed at her and Mai couldn't help but roll her eyes, really, she had only said thanks, wasn't that the normal thing to do when someone had just saved the life of your boyfriend.

Deciding to ignore the girl she turned to watch as the guards gathers up the would be assassins and turned to Zuko. "I just don't understand how this happened." she said quietly.

Zuko laughed a bit. "I would imagine they came in over the roof, and we don't have people stationed up there..."

"Well perhaps you should." she growled before he could finish. "The security around here is amazingly lax, its like they all think that since your father is gone they can just lounge about all day. I don't see why they didn't figure there would be many threats on your life from supporters of your father and probably even your sister."

Zuko stared at her for a few long moments before he spoke. "Perhaps you would like to help me figure out new security arrangements then."

Mai offered up a small smile. "It would be my pleasure." she said as she stood. "I'll be back later, there's some shopping I would like to get done before the markets get overly crowded." And as quickly as she arrived she was gone again leaving everyone looking around at each other fairly baffled.

"What was she here for?" Toph asked, seeming to be the most baffled my her abrupt entrance and exit.

"Just to say hello." Zuko said with a sigh as he too stood. "I have a meeting in an hour, I'll see you guys later."

Aang nodded after him and laid back onto the grass. "What a crazy start to the day." he said with a bemused grin.

"I'll say." Katara and Toph said together.


End file.
